


Things We'd Burn For

by pietromavximoff



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Marauders Era - Fandom, Wolfstar - Fandom, marauders - Fandom
Genre: I'm so out of practise, M/M, SORRY FOR THE TRASH, but enjoy the wolfstar shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 03:50:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7829362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pietromavximoff/pseuds/pietromavximoff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius can't stop pining over Remus like a lovestruck idiot and Remus hates thunder, and that's how they end up sharing a bed through a storm in Gryffindor Tower.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things We'd Burn For

It was a colder than usual night, and even though everyone had decided to steal as many fluffy blankets from the shelves of the hidden cupboard in Gryffindor tower and absolutely refuse to share, Sirius was still as stubborn as the time James bet him that he’d beat him in a game of exploding snap with his eyes closed, so he continued to lounge on a squishy armchair in one of James’ old Quidditch t-shirts that he’d taken a pair of scissors to, and blatantly ignore the cold that seemed to seep through the walls.  
‘Ok, Sirius. This is getting ridiculous.’ Remus turned to face him, spinning so his back was to the bright fire. The roar of the common room was loud enough, lively conversations drowning out quiet voices, although when Remus spoke, Sirius’ ears seemed to focus without him really trying. He smirked as Remus took off his reindeer patterned Christmas jumper and threw it at him without a word. From the chair opposite him, James shook his head in awe at the fact that Remus was wearing another, equally woolly and equally as battered jumper underneath.  
‘There’s chocolate on the left sleeve,’ Sirius remarked as he threw the reindeer jumper at the back of Remus’ head, who had just faced the fire again. He had to admit, the feeling of warmth between his fingers as he clutched the soft fabric right before he lobbed it was deliciously inviting, but the thought of how his stomach would flip if he pulled Remus’ jumper over him was enough to let it go.  
‘Sirius, you are literally the stupidest person I’ve ever met.’ Remus’ voice was muffled as he pulled the jumper off his face. He didn’t put it on again, just kept it in his lap as if waiting for Sirius to take it back. ‘Like, stupider than the time you jumped into the black lake wearing a scarf around your neck and the giant squid nearly strangled you to death – ’  
‘And have I worn a scarf since then before jumping into the black lake?’ Sirius questioned, trying not to grin as James laughed, his head lolling back with ease to whisper something to Lily, who was half asleep beside him, but smiled drowsily nonetheless. He didn’t even know why he refused to put a jumper on at the very least, after all, he was starting to feel the chill, and Remus seemed to have picked up on it.  
‘Contrary bastard.’ Remus said into his mug as he raised it to his lips. Sirius didn’t even begin to think up a response; the fire crackled and Remus’ eyes raised to it automatically, still tilting the cup to his lips. Sirius’ head had started to hurt; the animated conversations and the wind rattling the windows melted away and his head was filled with white noise instead, something louder than the rest, blocking everything out. He’d felt that a few times over the past months, and each time he did he got a little more confused than before. Once, when Remus was late to breakfast and had rushed into the Great Hall, his hair dishevelled and his eyes tired, James had to hit Sirius over the head a fair few times with his copy of A History Of Magic to get his attention, because suddenly the sun had shifted and as Remus stole a piece of toast from his plate, the blue veins in his hands that ran along his fingers had started to look like they were shallow oceans, waves that rocked back and forth that sometimes made his fingers tremble when it was close to a full moon. Then there was the time when they were watching James play his first Quidditch match of the season, and somehow, as James neared the goalposts after a tense hour of no-one scoring, Sirius had just enough time to hear the roar of the crowd as the Quaffle went through the middle hoop before Remus had turned to him with a smile on his face that seemed to dim everything else around him. Sirius felt himself grinning back but all the while he wondered if he had ever seen Remus smile like that because of him, and why he even cared.  
And then there was now, when Remus’ eyes had melted with the colour of the fire and his lips curved impossibly as he smirked while swallowing, letting the now empty mug rest on his knees.  
After a second, Remus turned to Sirius, looking to him expectantly for a smart remark in return for his, but all he got was an empty glance that told him Sirius wasn’t really there at the moment.   
Remus smirked because he had the last word, and Sirius had to drag his eyes away and force himself to instead look at James, who was regarding him curiously.  
‘Honestly, you’d think by sixth year his wit would have sharpened a little.’  
‘That’s why I’m not a Ravenclaw, mate.’ Sirius grinned, stretching lazily as he tried to ignore his racing heart. He heard Remus’ soft tut of laughter and ignored the painful pounding in his chest.

An hour later, the common room had cleared out, and all that was left was Lily, James, Sirius and Remus, plus a couple of second years intent on finishing their Charms homework. Remus yawned.  
‘Go to bed before you nod off right into the fire.’ Sirius advised. Remus stood up and stretched, a low grown escaping his grinning mouth.  
‘You just want me to leave so you can have it for yourself.’ And, without planning to, like something as natural and reflexive as breathing, Remus walked towards Lily and James at the foot of the boy’s dormitories, letting his hand fall and one finger extend slightly as he walked past Sirius, so it ran across his bare stomach. ‘See? I knew you were cold.’  
Sirius didn’t need to look down to know he was covered in goosebumps. ‘This has got to stop.’ He muttered to himself before springing up and skipping past Remus, who took it as a challenge, and they raced up to the dormitory, smacking into each other because of the narrow staircase.   
‘Just to be clear, I won that.’ Remus said in between pants when they reached their room.  
‘Oh, okay, just pretend like you weren’t starting in awe at my amazing hair bouncing along and whatnot, as I was miles ahead, and we’ll call it a draw.’ Sirius responded, thumping onto his bed with an easy grace Remus couldn’t fathom. He let out a laugh at Sirius’ comment, and suddenly the grin was wiped off Sirius’ face at the noise Remus made, the noise he had always made, right at the end of a laugh. A sharp intake of breath and a slow release of it, and a smile that followed that made the sharp tooth at the edge of his mouth graze his bottom lip ever so slightly.  
Sirius wasn’t certain when he had started to notice these small things, but he knew that now that he had, he wouldn’t be able to stop. He knew a lot of things, like the fact that after every full moon, he was the only one that was able to get Remus out of bed and eating something, and that whenever he made Remus laugh it felt like a thousand stars exploding in his veins, and that Remus only ever offered his jumpers to him. Sirius frowned at that last one, thinking that maybe it was because he was the only one stupid enough to wear a t-shirt in the middle of winter, but his thoughts were interrupted by James entering, then flopping onto his bed, yelling ‘night!’ far too loudly, to which, to no-one’s surprise, gave welcome to a distant yet easily heard in the dead of night yell back from Lily. Sirius watched Remus concentrating on the ground as he played with the frayed cropped Quidditch top absent-mindedly. Remus, sensing his gaze, looked up, and Sirius, who wasn’t entirely sure why his heart had leapt at that particular moment, looked away, not certain that he had done so quick enough not to be caught staring.  
Remus, on the other hand, continued to watch as Sirius frowned slightly, something he always did when he was trying to figure something out, even if that something usually was whether he and James should put a sleeping draught in Snape’s pumpkin juice or a dungbomb. Remus often caught himself staring at Sirius, even after he had told a joke and everyone had had their laugh, then lost interest and looked away. On days where he grew restless near the full moon, he found that the only reprieve in suffocating classrooms was tracing Sirius’ hands with his eyes, the curve of his smile, the sharpness of his jaw. Again and again he’d had the urge to reach out and trace him with his hand, and then Sirius would turn to him to tell him that he and James had indeed put the dungbomb in Snape’s breakfast and no, nothing had happened yet, but they were hopeful. And Remus would laugh and look away when one of the girls in class looked at Sirius with great interest, completely missing that Sirius barely even knew they existed when he had Remus there.  
Remus finally tore his eyes away from Sirius as the lights went out. What would Sirius say, if he knew how often he crossed Remus’ mind?   
The darkness of the dormitory lasted about half a second before a flash of lightning struck somewhere nearby and the room was alight, and for a moment, Sirius considered sneaking up on James and scaring the pants off him when the clap of thunder came, but it had started to rain heavily, and he knew James only jumped when it was deadly silent and he was most unsuspecting. He was just thinking that he should’ve hidden under James’ bed instead when a clap of thunder shook through the room, and, not a second later, he felt someone near him.  
‘Sirius?’ His voice was soft, quiet, but Sirius had never heard anything clearer.  
‘Yeah, Re.’ Beside them, James gave a soft exhale, an indication that he’d fallen asleep. Without asking, without even thinking, he moved across to make room and held back the covers. Remus sat on the edge of the bed, not daring to move closer.  
‘Sorry. I hate thunder.’ Remus whispered, and he wasn’t sure why, because he and Sirius, judging from the gap between them, were about a meter apart still, and surely Sirius couldn’t hear him over the storm.  
‘S’okay.’ Came Sirius’ voice, and Remus could hear his grin. ‘I’m kind of cold.’  
Remus closed his eyes and grinned, and he opened them again the exact moment another flash of lightning sparked, and he saw Sirius smirking back at him, before his smile dropped ever so slightly. Remus, Sirius had realised in that brief moment of light, was shirtless, and his smile and pale shoulders framed by the sharpness of his collarbones disappeared along with the lightning and Sirius had the sudden urge to turn the lights on. Instead, he let his head drop into his pillow.  
Remus inched closer, and, when his fingers touched Sirius’ arm, he jerked back tentatively. Silence.  
Sirius’ skin burned where Remus had touched him.  
Neither of them spoke, but, slowly, Sirius heard and felt Remus shifting on the edge of the bed, trying to get comfortable without getting comfortable. Eventually, Remus slid into the bed, not pulling the covers up in case Sirius asked what he was doing. But Sirius stayed silent. For a second, Remus thought he had fallen asleep, but then he asked, ‘are you gonna draw the covers up or what?’ in a voice that suggested impatience but hid longing.  
Remus smirked and pulled the blankets onto him, and, as she shifted his leg off the edge of the bed, it brushed Sirius’, and, this time, no-one jerked away. Instead, Sirius moved closer. There were a few long minutes of silence where the rain and thunder filled in for conversation that wasn’t needed. Remus and Sirius had always had a silent understanding of each other, a way of knowing without needing to be told. But this, Sirius’ fingers reaching out to brush against the faint scars on Remus’ throat, was new.  
‘Sirius, does anything feel different to you?’ Remus asked aloud, and he immediately regretted it. He might as well have just pumped his heart full of adrenaline, for all the pulse in his throat was betraying him to Sirius.   
‘Well I wasn’t going to mention it, but this bed’s getting kind of small.’   
Remus could hear him grinning, but, for one wild second, Remus knew that Sirius knew exactly what he was talking about. And that wild second was all he needed. He leaned in, not thinking that he couldn’t see a thing, not thinking that Sirius might hate him after this, not thinking of anything at all. And he heard Sirius breathe in sharply and felt his body freeze as he somehow, impossibly, felt Sirius’ lips against his. For a terrifying second, he thought he had read everything wrong. For a terrifying second, the wild second seemed to disappear and there was nothing to reassure him that he hadn’t completely screwed everything up. For a terrifying second, he couldn’t breathe. But then Sirius let out a shaky breath against his lips, and moved one hand onto Remus’ hipbone and the other moved from resting on his collarbone to tangle into his hair, thumb rubbing his earlobe. And he could breathe again. Sirius moved up so Remus could half-lay down and half-support himself on his elbows while Sirius, a tortured groan escaping the back of his throat, felt Remus’ tongue slowly, almost agonisingly, brush against his as he pressed in closer to him. He tasted like hot chocolate.  
Remus wondered if he’d go to hell because of what he was thinking he wanted to do to Sirius; Sirius was already there. He pushed Remus lower, sliding on top and let Remus’ quick fingers tug on his hair when he groaned a bit too loudly.  
Finally, after a minute or an hour, they broke away, breathless. A flash of light told Remus he wasn’t the only one with flushed cheeks.  
‘I – ’ He began, but Sirius interrupted him.  
‘Re, I’m sorry – I should’ve stopped – ’  
Remus was just as quick to interrupt. He moved in closer, feeling the weight of Sirius’ head slump onto his shoulder. He wasn’t sure whose heartbeat was whose anymore. ‘I’ve wanted to do this for ages. I’m the one who should be sorry.’  
They went back and forth like that for a bit, both stammering excuses in shaky voices, pausing only when they heard James shift in his bed. Their skin was alight with each other’s touch, their eyes wide awake. In the end, they both came to the same realisation, even if they didn’t say it aloud. They both loved each other in the way that the brightest stars loved the darkest skies, the way they burned, the way the longed. And if one burnt out, the other would wait. And if they met in a life after that, with different things to want and other things worth burning for, they’d love each other then.


End file.
